ECB announces a 5-step roadmap for the return of its recreational cricket
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|| Desk Report ||
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced a five-step roadmap for the return of competitive recreational cricket in the United Kingdom (UK).
The ECB is currently at Step three of the process, which takes into account the permission of small training for groups of up to six people.
The return of competitive recreational cricket with adapted gameplay will be involved in step four, with matches adjusted to remain socially distanced.
This will be seen in both senior and junior cricket, though what sorts of adaptation will be there that hasn't been specified yet. It might feature shorter formats to allow more matches, all ground maintenance and outdoor facility usage and hospitality will be in line with the government guidelines at the time.
Step five involves all formats, leagues and competitions being available to play and full use of facilities being permitted.
However, in order to move to this step social distancing measures would have to be removed.
The ECB statement said that the implementation date of both Step four and Step five is yet to be confirmed.
“We’ve identified five steps for the recreational game’s proposed phased return in England this summer. England is currently in step 3 - which allows for small group training sessions of up to six people while respecting social distancing,” ECB quoted in the statement.
“As cricket is a non-contact sport that involves individual disciplines within a team environment, forms of the game can be played while respecting social distancing.
“We’ll continue to be led by UK government advice and will only move into Step 4 when the guidance allows and when it is medically safe to do so,” the statement added.
